I am currently writing a book, if no other reason than for my own amusement, that partially addresses the concerns in that article.
As the 20th century began, humans living in urban areas, starting with the biggest cities, enjoyed conveniences their forebears in the prior centuries could only imagine. Telephones, radios, self propelled vehicles, refrigeration, electricity for lighting and heating. The list was long by 1900 and grew much longer by year 2000. One could easily -- at least I think it is easily made -- that modern humans had little in common with their forebears of the 19th century who had more in common with their forebears going back to the first beginnings of civilization when humans evolved from nomadic to settled societies.
One cultural phenomenon peculiar to America during the decade of the 1950s was the popularity of what were called "Westerns" on TV. Seven of the highest rated programs were Westerns. It almost seems now like Americans, despite the prosperity of that era and the optimism that things would only get better for them, spent their evenings looking backward to a time period when there was no electricity, no cars, no crowded super highways, no TV, etc. That sentimentality continued into the following decades. Westerns were still popular during the 60s and 70s.
Hollywood also supplied this yearning for a simpler time with its cowboy movies, beginning with the silent film era.
During the 1950s Hollywood also made a few movies about troubled teens. Alienated, restless, self destructive, bored, rebellious were words the intelligentsia used to describe their psyches. Teen rebellion has now become part of Western cultures. Large corporations have made billions in profits from it in the last 70 years.
Nothing is made to last in the modern societies.
The Nasdaq's third tier, the AMEX can be just as bad, and last but not least, the OTC, it seems, are financial venues that reward failure.
AI
